The Best XML Sitemap Generator That You Should Use

OK, let’s be honest.

Everyone can claim their XML sitemap generator as the best one out there, and as a user, we don’t care if it’s the best sitemap generator or not but rather we are interested in a free or a reliable XML sitemap generator (if it cost us money).

An XML sitemap can be created manually (in case you did not know), but you shouldn’t because it is more error prone and you should spend your time for more valuable tasks (like creating content).

So to save you sometime, we have collected a list of XML sitemaps for you. But first, let’s get to know the type of XML sitemaps you can create before talking about the tools.

Content of XML sitemap

An XML sitemap has a very simple structure. It contains the URLs of a site that need to get indexed in the search results. For every URL you can define the frequency with which the content is updated, the last date of update and priority for webpage. All these parameters are optional but if you define these values then it will definitely yield better results.

What is the use of an XML sitemap generator?

An XML sitemap can be created manually but there are always chances of making mistakes and this can be a very time consuming task for a website of large size. An XML sitemap generator on the other hand automatically creates an error free file with all the necessary information.

Video XML Sitemap Generator

If you have a lot of important video content in your website then you will require video XML sitemap generator to provide information about the videos on your site to Google and other search engines.

Image XML Sitemap Generator

You can also improve the visibility of your site by improving the visibility of images in your site in Google’s image search. For this you can make use of Image XML sitemaps so that Google can learn more about the images available on your site and index them in search results. The sitemap must include the image specific tag to provide information about the images available at a particular URL of your site.

So, while selecting the right sitemap generator for your requirement you must keep in mind if you want to include information about images and videos on your site. Most of the tools mentioned here provide that facility.

What Types of XML Sitemap Generators are Available?

There are many XML Sitemap generators that are available for free and then there are paid options as well.  I will be talking about both types of XML sitemap generators but first this is what you need to know.

XML site generators are of three different types and you need to first figure out which type will be best for you

• Website based
  1. Self-hosted ones that you need to install on your own server
  2. Hosted by service provider so you can use it right away
• Software based : Such tools need to be downloaded and installed  on a local computer

Which XML sitemap generator is better (or close to be the best)?

Whether you create an XML sitemap manually or automatically using a web based or a software based tool, its content format is going to be the same. You must select the right tool for yourself keeping your technical skills in mind. If you don’t have any idea about XML sitemaps and you don’t even want to learn then automatic online XML sitemap generator are the best options for you. Software based XML sitemap generators are good for those who have sound technical knowledge and want to have a strong control over the output. Such tools can be very confusing for you if you don’t have a strong technical background.

So, you have all the options. You can provide the URL of your site to an online XML sitemap generator and leave the rest on it to get an XML sitemap for your website or you can install a software based XML sitemap generator on your local machine and view and edit the sitemap under construction as per your needs. The concept of XML sitemap was introduced by Google which is why they are also referred to as Google sitemap.

In the coming sections, I will explain all types of XML sitemap generator and mention some options available for each type.

Website Based Software That Can Be Used Right Away

As mentioned above this is section deals with the easiest option and here I am going to introduce some very simple tools that will ease out the tension in your mind. I will talk about the complex tools in the later sections.

Sitemapspal.com

 

Sitemapspal is a good online sitemap generator tool available for creating an XML sitemap. All that you need to do is submit the URL of your site. You will be provided with a code that you can copy and paste onto an XML file and then save it as ‘sitemapspal.xml’ site. You also have the option to download the file. Once you have saved the file on to your system you can upload it to your server and inform Google about it. There are certain limitations and working boundaries associated with the site so please do read all the instructions carefully.

Online Google Sitemap Generator –    Free !

 

Google site-map generator is a free tool that has been used by several people worldwide. You can use it to create the site-map files of your website online. It also helps in validating the site-map structure and can also be used to check broken links in the website. Using this xml sitemap generator is easy and convenient for those who don’t want to install any software on their machine or don’t want to pay for the service. The XML sitemap for your site will be ready free of cost within no time – what else can you ask for? This tool also has the ability to handle complex content. The sitemap created by Google Sitemap generator is accepted by all the major search engines and if there are any dead links on your site then this tool will find them and inform you about it.

Check-domains.com

 

The site check-domains.com allows users to generate free xml sitemap which defines the last modification time, change in frequency and manual or automatic priority for all the webpages . It also has an XML sitemap validator and broken link checker. This tool allows you to create XML sitemap for unlimited number of webpages but there is an associated memory limit in effect. Memory limit in effect occurs when the memory size allowed by the server is reaching its limit, in such scenario the sitemap creation stops. However, the problem can be resolved by keeping the option of “Optional Sitemap Types” disabled and making use of “Exclude URLs” and “Do not crawl URLs” filters. You can also limit the crawling depth using the ‘Depth Level’. If you still have issue you can look for the “contact us” details on the site and send a request to resolve the problem. If you become a paid member then bigger memory limit will be applied to your account. To become a paid member you will have to sign up with yearly fee of $24.95. It is quite obvious that when you become a paid member you will have additional benefits and there is a lot more that you can do besides creating XML sitemap.

Sitemapdoc.com

 

Sitemapdoc.com offers sitemap generator and editor service. You will have to provide the base URl of your site and then click on a “create map” button. This will list down the URLs of all the web pages of your site. If there is any url that cannot be added to the sitemap then it will be shown as flagged in the list. You have the option of un-checking the urls that you don’t want to include in the sitemap. “XML Sitemap” button allows you to create a sitemap. You can always edit the sitemap.

Server Side XML Sitemap Generator

Server side XML Sitemap generator can be installed on to the same host that needs to be crawled and sitemaps can be created automatically without any inputs from the user.

Google Sitemap Generator

Website based xml sitemap generator can also be self-hosted ones that you need to install on your own server such as Google Sitemap Generator.  This tool can be directly installed on to the web server so that the sitemaps can be generated automatically. The approach followed here is different because the tool will monitor the changes made to the site and the incoming traffic to the server and then generate a much more accurate sitemap automatically in theory. In practice though, we have seen Google Sitemap generator causing problems.

This sitemap generator from Google is open source and is very intelligent tool. It can detect modified URLs, all log files etc. from the server. You can use it to create XML sitemaps as well as Mobile Sitemaps and Code Search Sitemaps. For more information on Google Sitemap Generator, click here.

This tool is designed by Google. So, it has been created keeping the algorithms of Big G in mind.  If you utilize it to create an XML sitemap for your site then your web pages will definitely get indexed properly in Google search results.

Unlimited Sitemap Generator

Unlimited sitemap generator by xml-sitemaps.com is now available at $19.99. It is a good quality standalone PHP application that can be easily installed on to the server that hosts the website.  You can generate XML as well as HTML, text formatted and mobile sitemap with this tool. It also provides features to create Images, video and news sitemap and RSS feeds.  Unlimited sitemap generator can be used for all kinds of sites such as dynamic sites, blogs, forums etc. This tool can be used to create sitemap that is in accordance to Google sitemap protocol and you will also get free updates for it all your life. So, if you look at the larger picture, it is a good tool to invest in.

XML-sitemaps.com is a well known name and it also provides online direct service to create XML sitemap generator for a website. For more information, click here.

Software based (download and install on local computer)

Here in this section I am going to talk about software based XML sitemap generators which may seem a bb complex to a non technical person, but as mentioned before such tools allow you to have a strong control over how the XML sitemap is created.

GSiteCrawler

GSiteCrawler is a Windows based tool that is now available for free installation. I find the features of this very impressive as the parameters for the sitemap are well within your control. Once you feed in the name of the website, GSiteCrawler will search all the URLS for your site in all possible ways and will provide you with the necessary files and statistics. This tool offers a lot more than just creating an XML sitemap. For more information about the features of GSiteCrawler click here. GSiteCrawler has had many users and it is considered to be a very stable tool for Sitemap generation.

G-Mapper – Free Sitemap Generator

G-Mapper is another sitemap generator that is available for free. It supports the XML sitemap.org protocol and you can also use it to create plain text maps, RSS, RDF etc. So, in simple words the sitemap generated by G-Mapper is in line with the requirement of all leading search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. It is available for full download however for the latest version available the site has put up a note that it has not been tested fully as yet.

The snapshot below shows how information related to images can be added to the sitemap.

 

 

You can also provide the default names that you may want to use for your sitemap files

 

And if you want to upload the sitemap from G-Mapper to your website then you will have to provide the FTP details.

 

G-Mapper may sound it only generates XML sitemaps for Google but it is compatible with all major search engines. (In case you are not familiar, Google was the first one to introduce the XML sitemap protocol, then Bing and Yahoo joined force later). This tool is for static websites and can be used for sites of any size. It can also automatically scan through the folders of your site and you will have the option to view and edit information for the sitemap.

 

A1 Sitemap Generator

This one is not free but we have done a post explaining why it is a good value XML sitemap generator.

Conclusion

There are several types of paid as well as free xml sitemap generator available online on the World Wide Web. You must evaluate your requirement, budget and technical skills before going ahead with any tool. It is also important to read all the features and instructions carefully before downloading the right tool for your need.

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12